Ex-inmate pleads not guilty to sex trafficking

A former inmate pleaded not guilty Wednesday to forcing two teens into prostitution with the help of his girlfriend, who was a guard at the western Pennsylvania prison where he served time for drug charges.

Rasul Abernathy, 32, appeared before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh on charges of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking and two counts of sex trafficking of a child -- a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy.

Abernathy is charged along with his former guard, 34-year-old Poshauntaramin Walker, who pleaded not guilty last week. Her public defender declined to comment.

Abernathy's attorney, Douglas Sughrue, hopes to convince a jury that Abernathy was simply trying to help "young people whose lives aren't well off, who were looking for people to help them through rough times."

"We will allow a jury to decide between two interpretations of facts, one that favors the government and one that favors the defense," Sughrue said.

Details of the charges are spelled out in an FBI search warrant unsealed in February, a few days after the couple was arrested in Philadelphia.

Abernathy met Walker when he was incarcerated from February 2007 to September 2008 at the state prison in Greensburg, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

After Abernathy's release, the couple wound up in North Versailles, a Pittsburgh suburb, where Abernathy met the 16-year-old after she ran away from a court-ordered juvenile placement.

Abernathy told the girl she could live with Walker, but he didn't tell her that he lived there, too, and they'd all have to share one bed, authorities said. About a month later, the couple began prostituting the girl by posting online ads with her picture, the FBI affidavit said.

Authorities allege the girl was prostituted from July 2012 to March 2013, while the boy was trafficked from December 2012 to March 2013. Few details of the allegations involving the boy are included in the court documents.

According to the search warrant, Walker showed the girl how to dress and apply makeup, and Abernathy told her what to charge for sexual services. The couple gave her marijuana and pain pills to relax her before trysts -- and alcohol afterward -- and physically abused her if she refused to provide sexual services or tried to run away, authorities said.

The FBI also alleges that a former inmate friend of Abernathy's raped the girl, and Abernathy told her it was a "learning experience."

That man, Solomon Owens, 36, has been jailed and was ordered to stand trial on rape and other charges after a preliminary hearing last month.

Walker and Abernathy also face related charges in state court. Walker last month was ordered to stand trial on charges of interfering with the custody of a minor, furnishing alcohol to a minor and corruption of minors. Abernathy faces a preliminary hearing Thursday on charges including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors and sexual assault.

50 Photos: The facts of Pa. prison life

50 Photos: The facts of Pa. prison life

This slideshow takes a look at the prison and jail system in Pennsylvania, who's in it, what it costs and how the state's system compares to the rest of the country.

The information was provided by the Pa. Department of Corrections and the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.

A few things need to be made clear. First, jails and prisons are not the same thing. Some stats in this slideshow will make a distinction between the two.

The basic differences are these -- prisons are where more serious offenders serve longer sentences. Prisons are operated by the state or federal government.

Jails are used to house inmates serving shorter terms and inmates who are awaiting trial. Jails are typically operated by counties -- although in Pennsylvania a county facility may be called a "prison" (such as the Lancaster County Prison shown above), it is not the same thing as a state or federal prison. Yes, this can be a bit confusing.

There are more than 83,000 people being held in Pa. jails and prisons.

More than 51,000 of Pa. inmates are in prison. The rest are being held in jails.

Forty-six percent of the state's prison population is from the Philadelphia area.

Pennsylvania has a lower incarceration rate than the rest of the country, but also spends more money per prisoner than the average.

Pennsylvanians paid $32,843 per inmate in 2009, according to the Pa. Board of Probation and Parole.

Pa.'s payment per inmate is 13 percent higher than the national average.

The 2010-2011 state corrections budget of $1.74 billion is an 8.49% increase since 2009.

Camp Hill prison is the most populated in the state. It houses 3,160 inmates. Capacity at the facility is 3,200.

The state has 22 prisons that are over capacity.

The most overpopulated is Huntingdon Prison (pictured), which houses 440 more inmates than it should.

Populations in Pa. prisons have risen an average of 6 percent a year and is expected to continue to increase by an average of 3 percent per year until 2014, according to the Pa. Board of Probation and Parole.

At the Washington County jail, most inmates stay in a cell much like the one above. These cells utilize standard fixtures, similar to what you would find in a school or hospital. These help create a more normal environment and are much less costly, according to the jail administrators.

Inmates are confined to their cells during the night, counts, and at certain other times.

Most inmates are encouraged to maintain family ties, and to help facilitate this, regular visiting is available.

Visitors must go through a security check.

Per Department of Corrections policy, the following categories of individuals will generally be prohibited from visiting inmates: a. former inmates of any correctional system; b. any person who is currently under parole or probation supervision; c. any current inmate in pre-release status; d. any Department of Corrections employee; e. any current, active Volunteer for the Department of Corrections; f. any current or former contract employee; g. any victim of the inmate.

Some prison inmates are allowed to have e-mail accounts. However all accounts are administered through one entity called JPay.com.

About 15% of inmates are married.

About 2,500 of Pa. prison inmates are female.

The state Department of Corrections operates two female-only adult prisons. They are SCI Muncy (pictured) and SCI Cambridge Springs.

Drugs, aggravated assault, robbery and theft are the top four offenses leading to incarceration in Pa.

At the time of incarceration, 70 percent of inmates were addicted to drugs or alcohol and 20 percent had mental health issues, according to the Pa. Board of Probation and Parole.

Seventy-eight percent of inmates read below a 12th grade level.

In state prisons, academic education is mandatory for all inmates who do not have a high school diploma or a GED.

If an inmate wants to fill a job at the prison, that inmate must also be enrolled in the prison's academic program.

The Department of Corrections offers reading and math instruction, peer tutoring opportunities and English as a Second Language instruction. Special education programs, taught by Pennsylvania certified instructors, are available to all inmates with assessed special needs.

Since 1980, the number of elderly (50+) inmates has increased from 370 to 7,949. (Pa. Board of Probation and Parole)

The average age of Pa. inmates (male and female) is 37.

More than 90 percent of the inmates incarcerated in Pa. state prisons will eventually return to the community.

However, more than 67 percent of released prisoners are rearrested for a new crime within three years of release, according to the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Over 80 percent of those under the age of 18 will be rearrested, while 45.3% of those 45 and older will be rearrested.

About 4,800 inmates in the state are lifers.

The Department of Corrections says that it has zero tolerance for sexual assault behind bars.

The DOC has set up a hotline where anyone can report sexual abuse of inmates. It is 1-866-823-6703.

Pennsylvania does have a death penalty, but in recent years, executions have been very rare.

Since 1983, 220 people have been sentenced to the death penalty.

Of the 220 inmates sentenced to death row, 169 of them were being held at Greene Prison (pictured).

Inmates are actually executed here -- this is the execution area at Rockview, which is near Penn State.

Three people have actually been executed since May 1995.

All three of the men executed since 1995 in Pa. had been on death row for more than 20 years.

215 of the 220 Pa inmates sentenced to death row were male.

Two inmates were sentenced to the death penalty in 2010.

The current execution method in Pa. is lethal injection.

One item most death row inmates get to request before they take their final walk is a last meal. Find out about the famous last meals the condemned experienced before they said their final words, and how states have changed the rules about last meals.

We hope you learned something from this 50 photos feature on Pa. prison life.

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